About a month ago, I posted about how the NHL and the New York Rangers were attempting to play an outdoor hockey game at Yankee Stadium. The goal of this game is to create buzz for the game hockey to draw in more sports consumers. Now, another team is trying to create that same kind of buzz to promote their team and league. That team is the New York Liberty of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA).

The game will be held on July 19 and it will feature the New York Liberty versus the Indiana Fever. The game will be held at Arthur Ashe Stadium. This stadium is the site of the United States Tennis Open. This will be the first ever regular season professional basketball game (men or women) to be played outdoors. Team president Carol Blazejowski felt that the game “will bring us back to our roots, celebrate the enormous growth and interest in the women’s game and provide an opportunity to gain unprecedented exposure for Liberty basketball and the WNBA.”

The stadium, which seats about 23,000, is expected to be sold out. This would draw thousands of more fans than a typical WNBA game. What makes this game even more significant is that it will be the first ever non-tennis event held at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Also, for anyone into cause related marketing, a portion of ticket sales will go to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

The WNBA has not had the same success as the NBA. While this game will not raise the WNBA to level of the NBA, it should create more contact points and buzz to draw in more sports consumers. If I am one of the lucky fans to get a ticket, I will definitely go watch the game. I also urge everyone to try and do the same.